A/c Tail Numbers

[buhbye]

Could someone please explain the numbers at the end of a/c and the letters on them.

In detail please!

 

[mweiss]

Wow...I'm surprised you didn't know.

Anyway, they're the aircraft equivalent to license plates. There's an international standard, so there shouldn't be any duplications anywhere in the world.

In the US, the reg numbers begin with the letter N. The N is followed by anywhere from three to five characters. These days, I believe all new registrations are five characters after the N. It can either consist of three digits followed by two letters, or five digits.

Just as in license plates, you can get "vanity" registrations. Typically, it's three digits to identify the A/C, and the two letters are used fairly consistently by the airline (AA for American, US for Northwest [no, I have no idea why they were using US for their registrations], CO for Continental, EA for Eastern, etc.). Lately, CO has just been using five digits.

 

[buhbye]

ke if there is a N at the start,proceeded by numbers then another N, on a commercial airliner, but no letters identifying it to that airline. Like you said AA or US.

What does that mean? What does the N stand for?

 

[mweiss]

The N doesn't really stand for anything. It's used for registrations in the United States. The UK uses G, France uses F, Germany uses D...

As I said, the use of specific letters doesn't have to mean anything about the owner, any more than specific letters on a vanity license plate are attached to the license plate's owner. The five characters, whether all numbers or 3N2L (three number, two letter), are simply a registration number, just like a license plate number.

Incidentally, if you want to see something cool, try putting an aircraft reg number into the Google search box. 🙂

 

[mweiss]

Some additional information...I was just playing around, and found out there are registrations that are only two characters. N1, for example, is registered to (who else?) the FAA.

 

[kirkpatrick]

Incidentally, if you want to see something cool, try putting an aircraft reg number into the Google search box. 🙂

I just googled the airplane I soloed in, N32789, and it's apparently still alive, living in Stratford, CT. Too bad there's no picture! I should send them one.

MK

 

[TWAnr]

I have just run across the FAA REGISTRY Aircraft Registration Inquiry website. It is kind of fun to see the information the public can access.

That webpage has a link to FAA Registry More Information on N-Numbers where the following explanation is posted:

How to Properly Form an N-Number:

N-Numbers consist of a series of alphanumeric characters. U.S. registration numbers may not exceed five (5) characters in addition to the standard U.S. registration prefix letter "N". These characters may be one (1) to five (5) numbers (eg., N12345), one (1) to four (4) numbers and one (1) suffix letter (ex. - N1234Z), or one (1) to three (3) numbers and two (2) suffix letters (N123AZ). To avoid confusion with the numbers one and zero, the letters "I" and "O" may not be used.

An N-Number may not begin with zero. The first zero in a number must be preceded by at least one of the numbers one (1) through nine (9). For example, N01Z is not valid.

Registration numbers N1 through N99 are strictly reserved for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) internal use.

The FAA no longer issues numbers beginning with "NC", "NX", "NR", or "NL". On some older aircraft, these numbers may be displayed in accordance with FAR 45.22.